Good Call

GoodCall operates as a technology firm providing an AI-powered phone assistant tailored for the small and medium-sized business (SMB) market. The company addresses the operational challenge SMBs face where a significant percentage of incoming calls go unanswered, leading to missed revenue opportunities.

The company was founded in 2021 by Bob Summers, who currently serves as the CEO. Summers' background is deeply rooted in related technologies, having previously worked as a product manager at Google on projects including Google Assistant. Goodcall itself is an evolution of CallJoy, a product incubated in Google's Area 120, which Summers also co-founded. This prior experience directly informs the company's mission to make enterprise-level AI accessible and affordable for smaller operations. In September 2021, Goodcall announced a $4 million seed funding round from investors including Neo, Foothill Ventures, Xoogler Ventures, and notable angel investors such as the co-founder of Zillow, Spencer Rascoff.

The core of Goodcall's business is a subscription-based service for its virtual receptionist. Clients are typically local businesses like restaurants, salons, and various service providers who need to manage customer inquiries without dedicating full-time staff to answering the phone. The business model features several pricing tiers, including a free option, which are structured based on the volume of unique customer interactions per month rather than call duration, offering predictable costs.

Goodcall's product is an intelligent phone agent designed for ease of use, allowing for setup within minutes without requiring technical expertise. The service provides businesses with a dedicated phone number that can be published on their websites and platforms like Yelp and Google Business. The AI agent handles inbound calls 24/7, answers frequently asked questions, provides business information, filters spam, and can direct callers to online booking or ordering pages via text. Key features include call transcription, intelligent call forwarding to human staff when necessary, and integrations with CRM systems and calendars. The platform is built on Google Cloud's AI and speech technologies, aiming for natural-sounding, low-latency conversations.

Keywords: AI phone assistant, virtual receptionist, SMB call management, automated customer service, conversational AI, Bob Summers, CallJoy, Google Area 120, lead capture, appointment scheduling, AI answering service, small business technology, call automation, customer support automation, CRM integration, intelligent call routing, voice AI, phone support, no-code AI, business communication